Hytera Tried 'End Run' Around Court's Power, Motorola Says

By Lauraann Wood

Hytera Communications should not be able to get around an antisuit injunction that forced it to end Chinese litigation addressing mobile radio trade secrets, Motorola Solutions told the Seventh Circuit on Tuesday, arguing that Hytera must be stopped from doing an "end run" around the American case against it.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Federal Jurist In Chicago Remembered As 'Favorite Judge'

By Lynn LaRowe

Senior U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber, who oversaw the criminal trials of R. Kelly and the "ComEd Four" during his four decades on the bench in Illinois, is remembered as a compassionate "favorite judge" whose tireless work ethic kept him active in the court until his death Tuesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Tells Embezzling Atty To Focus As Sentencing Looms

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday again denied a former attorney's bid for a new trial or pre-sentencing release after a jury convicted him of misappropriating a now-shuttered bank's embezzled funds, saying he should concentrate on his upcoming sentencing instead.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Something Fishy With Conagra's '100% Whole Fish,' Suit Says

By Celeste Bott

Customers alleged in Illinois federal court Tuesday that Conagra misled them by marketing its popular Van de Kamp's and Mrs. Paul's frozen fish products as "100% whole fish," despite artificially adding weight to those fish with an industrial filler and extra water.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Marketing Co. Can't Sink ADA Suit Over Wellness Program

By Emmy Freedman

An Illinois federal judge refused to toss a proposed class action brought by marketing firm workers who allege a medical exam for the company's wellness plan violated disability bias law, saying their argument that the test wasn't genuinely voluntary was strong enough to stay in court.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

32 AGs Urge Justices Take Up Okla. PBM Law Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

Thirty-two attorneys general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Oklahoma's petition for review of a Tenth Circuit decision holding that federal law preempted portions of a state law regulating pharmacy benefit managers, arguing the justices needed to intervene to resolve a circuit split.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

ZoomInfo's $30M Privacy Deal Gets Initial Green Light

By Hailey Konnath

An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday granted preliminary approval to a proposed settlement in which ZoomInfo will shell out roughly $30 million to resolve claims it used people's names and identities, without their consent, to advertise paid access to its full database.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Former Illinois Dept. Of Revenue GC Rejoins Baker McKenzie

By Tracey Read

The former general counsel at the Illinois Department of Revenue has rejoined Baker McKenzie as a transactional group partner in Chicago, the firm said Wednesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

How 3 Firms Cleared 2 Ex-Autonomy Execs In HP Fraud Case

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal jury's rejection last week of fraud charges against the founder and former finance vice president of British software company Autonomy validated an approach by the defendants' three law firms — Steptoe, Clifford Chance and Bird Marella — to form a "seamless" collaboration throughout the trial, from jury selection to closing arguments.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Alston & Bird Wins Bid To Arbitrate COVID Vax Claims

By Lauren Berg

Alston & Bird LLP can arbitrate a former aide's allegations that she was fired after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, a Georgia federal judge ruled Thursday, putting the litigation on ice pending the outcome of arbitration.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Abortion Medication Case Ends 'With A Whimper' At High Court

By Theresa Schliep

A case that threatened to cut off access to a widely used abortion medication while disrupting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authority over drugs and medical devices ended Thursday at the U.S. Supreme Court with a decision concerned solely with challengers' right to sue.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Justices Hand Abortion Advocates An Incomplete Win

By Dan McKay

The U.S. Supreme Court's rejection Thursday of a challenge to the abortion drug mifepristone will do little to safeguard long-term access to the medication while suggesting that it will be up to voters, not judges, to settle some of the nation's abortion debates, attorneys say.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Thomas Targets Group Standing In Mifepristone Ruling

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas joined his colleagues Thursday to unanimously uphold broad access to the abortion medication mifepristone for now, but he wrote separately to challenge a standing rule that often serves as the key to the courthouse doors for litigants of all varieties.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Senate Panel OKs Fix For Federal Courts' 'Genuine Crisis'

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted out unanimously on Thursday a bipartisan bill to create 66 new and temporary judgeships to alleviate the federal courts' workload.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justice Thomas Failed To Disclose More Trips, Dems Say

By Courtney Bublé and Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose more private jet trips gifted by billionaire and Republican donor Harlan Crow, according to new information released Thursday by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Rakoff Says Criminal Justice Act Attys Should Work Weekends

By Pete Brush

Indigent defendants requiring free criminal legal advice should have access to conflict-free counsel even over the weekends, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in Manhattan said in a blistering Thursday opinion, citing a suboptimal sequence of events in a high-profile drug case.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Contentious Del. Corporate Law Changes Sail Through Senate

By Jeff Montgomery

After triggering rare public dissent, a multipart Delaware General Corporation Law amendment that would let boards cede some governance rights to big stockholders whisked through the state's Senate on Thursday without debate or an opposing vote, with a House vote expected as early as next week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Southern Poverty Law Center Lays Off A Quarter Of Its Staff

By Matt Perez

The Southern Poverty Law Center reduced its staff by a quarter Wednesday, including letting go the entirety of its Immigrant Justice team, according to statements shared by the nonprofit's union on the social platform X, with the SPLC in an email Thursday calling the layoffs part of an "organizational restructuring."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Rutgers Fights Law School Vice Dean Subpoena In Bias Suit

By Jake Maher

Rutgers University argued in New Jersey state court this week that an attempt from a Jewish law student to subpoena the law school's vice dean for documents is really a means to "harass" the university because the student has already subpoenaed Rutgers for the same information.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. Judge's Voir Dire Tip: Jurors Dislike Judgmental Attys

By Thy Vo

The District of Colorado's chief judge urged attorneys to tread carefully while playing jurors off one another during voir dire, telling lawyers at a presentation Thursday that referencing another juror's response can come off as judgmental.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

IP Forecast: Cooley Atty Faces DQ Bid Over Past Patent Work

By Andrew Karpan

A prominent Cooley LLP lawyer will face questions next week in a Philadelphia courtroom over her work a decade ago at her former firm defending a cloud software startup that is now suing a Cooley client. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »